Rudder for aeroplanes.



H. A. ORME.

RUDDBR FOR AEROPLANESA APPLICATION FILED DEC. 31, 1910. 1,074,068. Pandsept. 23, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. A. ORME.

RUDDEB. FOR AEROPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED 1120.31. 1910.

1,074,063. Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HARRY A.. ORME, 0F WESLEY HEIGHTS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RUDEER FOR AEROPLAN'ES.

Speeieation of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 31, 1910.

Alaiteinteil Slept. 53, HMS.

Serial No. 600,253.

lle it linown that l', l'liinni' A.. Umm, :i citizen ol the UnitedStilles, residing;v nt Beechwood, Wesley l-leights, in the Distriet ot'Coluinliin, here invented ai` new und uset'ul lniprovenient in ldnddersfor Aeroplnnes, of whieh the following is :i speciliention.

This .invention relntes generally to fieroplnnes :ind morepnrliei'llnrly to n. novel eonstruetion ol: rudder und :ilso to thenninner of eonnertiine,v the rudder to the neroplnne rind :ilse to thenizinner el. operntingthe snid rudder.

The olijeet ot' my invention is to provide :i simple und ellieienteonstrnetion ot` eonipound rudder e-.ipnlile olf steering or directingthe aeroplane and nlso enpnlile el" nssist ing in elevating' ordepressing` the inziehine ais :i 'whole und :ilso assisting inninintziiiiinp,l the st'ziliility or equililiriuin ol" the innehine.

Another object et :ny invention is to pro vide :i eoinpound steering andelevating rndder in "which the steering' rod :ind elei'ntingn'ieehnnisins :ire eonipnetly and conveniently nrrunp'ed within ensyreneh of the operntor.

Il, still lurther olijeet is to provide :i novel eonstruetion oli ruddertrnnie eonnetrted to the :ieroplnne,proper in suoli :i ninnner tlint itDthe end oit the rudtfler freine should neeldentlui' strike the ground:ill dtnnuge to the nreoplnne proper will lie ever-ted.

ll'ith these eliijeets in View :ind :ilse with eertnin other .ilijeetswhich -will :ippeerhereinnlter, my invention consists in providing n`eoinpound steering :ind elevating.,i` rudder; :ind .my inventioii :ilseeonsisls in providing foot oper-.iteil ineens 'for controlling' thesteering rudder :ind luind operated ineens for e'onl'rf "ing Atheelevating plaine of sfiid rudder, said liiind and foot eontrols beingwithin easy :ind convenient reneh of the operator.

The inii'ention consists :ilse in the various detnils olf eonstriietionand the novel fentures oit' eouiliinntion or nrrz'ingenient :ill otwhich will lie Afull)1 f'leserilied hereinziil'te :ind pointed out inthe elniins.

lnv the drnwings forming :i pnrt of this speeil'lention: liigrure-l is nperspective View slit'iwiiigr :i portion of two planes 0f :in nerophine,the rudder freine connected to said phi nes :ind my Vimprovedconstruetion of rudder -firrnnged at the rerir end of said freine andthis View also illustrates the hand and foot operated ineens foroperating the rudder :ind this View nlso illustrates the novel ninnnerol limi-inf.;` or sliiying' the rudder lirnnie :ind nlso the novelninnner ol.' ronneet'ing the rudder li'ziine willi` llie plaines oli theneroplnne. Finzi) is n sertionzil. plnii View of the rudder. lig. il is:i seetionzil elei'ntion on the line Sal- --25 ol Fig'. 2. Fig. tl- 4isai detnil seetionnl View on tlie line flf-eloli' Fig'. l. Fig. 5 is :idetnil seetionnl View on tlie line 5"?) ot' Fig. 3. Fig. is zi detailsee tional View on the line t-tl ol` Fig. 3. Fig. T is :rdetnil Viewshowing the nninner of. eonneetiing the truss rods :ind converging linrsoll the rudder lrnine, sind, Fig. 8 is :i detziil View showing thenninner olE eonneeting the upper converging leur to tlie upper plaine ofthe zieropliine.

This novel eonstruetion of rudder is `intended or designed to lie ineoiinmition with tilie .ieroplnne pntented to nie, June 2t), 190),Funilier llthtl hut it will. :ilse he understood that; the seid rudder:ind pzirts een neeted therewith rain lilso be used in eonneetion withother constructions of :ieroplnnes "nud referringnew to the drawings, A,A

indient'e the plnnes proper of the :ieroplzine :ind B, l the supportingrods connected thereto nnd eonneeting the saiid plnnes with the, skids:ind other portions of the neroplnne.

U indientes the sent for the operntor :ind l) :i linnd wheel :irrzingedupon the end el :i slinft l) Awhich is employed l'or the purpose of opent/ing the forwnrd planes, (not shown).

E indientes :i l'oot lever pivotnlly inounted within n freine whichprojeels l'orwnrdly frein the lower plnne :ind to this toot lever ll:ire (.'onneeted the steering eords liereinzi'tter referred to.

F :ire the upper :ind lower renrwnrdly eenverging;r lilirs pre'feinlilynitide o'l wood and eneh bnr nniy he o'f :i single piece of wood orl-.nninzited ns preferred. 'lf'lie ltorwnrd ends ol these linrs nrepivotxilli7 connerted to the upper surfaces o't the upper :ind lowerplanes liy nienns ot'relips Ff :ind it. will lie noted tlnit byi'el'erenee to Fir'. H tlinl' seid clip FL is nrrnngred direetly :iliovethe elip BL wliieh eoiineets the supporting rnd l :nid upper plnne A, nsingle holt A serving to `imite nll of the said parts :is niost clearlyshown. As previouslyT deserihed, these bars F converge rearwardly :indmeet nt their rear ends, said meeting ends beingr securely fastenedtogether :ind :iliout niidwey the length of said rods I employ truss andB, but nevertheless I shall refer to this rods F which areconnected tothe bars F by means of clips Fa as shown most clearly in Figs. l, 4, and7 andthe rudder frameis further braced and stayed by means of the upperand lower cross pieces F 4 .and the wires F5, said wires extendingdiagonally from the upper to the lower bars and also from one truss rodto another, but it will be noted that at'the rear end of the rudderframe ample space is provided for'the movement of the compound rudder.

In constructing this rudder, I employ a vertical steering plane G and ahorizontal elevating plane H, said compound rudder being pivotallymounted at the extreme rear end of the rudder frame, and steering cordsI, are attached to the horizontal member of the rudder upon oppositesides of the center for the purpose of moving the rudder as a whole fromside to side, said steering cords I, passing forwardly over the pulleysI, carried by the truss rods F', and these cords are then connected tothe forward lever E, and fastened to a centrally arranged brace orsupport 2'2, mounted preferably beneath the seat as shown, so that whenone end of the foot lever is ushed forward, to push the rudder around, tie operating cord will have a compensating movement to permit the rudderto turn and maintain the cord in a fairly taut condition so 'that thereturn movement can be easily accomplished when desired. Elevating cordsK, are also attached to the horizontal elevating plane preferably at thecenter thereof, said elevating cords passing over the pulleys K, carriedby the rudder frame and at their forward ends are connected to theopposite ends of a hand lever I, pivotally mounted at K3, upon one sideof the hand wheel I), so that by means of one hand upon said wheel theoperator can shift the hand lever K2, as desired in order to raise orlower the horizontal plane of the rudder.

Although I describe the elevating plane I-I 'as horizontal7 I preferablyconstruct the same upon-a Slight curve which bears a definite relationto the curves of the planes A plane H as a horizontal plane inasmuch asit intersects the vertical plane (ir at substantially a righteangle. TheVertical plane G consists of a rudder post tir', frame work G2, andfabric covering G, both sides of the frame work being covered and thisframe work is braced in any suitable manner to` withstand the strainwhich may be placed thereon. The shape of the vertical plane as a wholeis semi-circular as shown. The upper and lower ends of the rudder postare pivotally connected'to the rudder frame by means of clips and pivotbolts L, and about midway the height of the rudder post upon the forwardside thereof is a clip H', which serves to pivotally connect the frontrod H2,

of the horizontal plane to the rudder post,

this pivotal connectionserving to unite the .from side to side, itcarries with it the hori zontal plane also. rlhe horizontal plane isslotted or divided as shown at H3, in order to receive the verticalplane therein and it will be not-ed that the fabric covering of thevertical plane is slotted as shown at Gt, in order to permit the up anddown movement of the horizontal plane, the extreme rear portion of saidhorizontal .plane working in said slot, which is-struck upon an are, thecenter' of which is'the pivotal connection between. the vertical andhorizontal planes; and the elevating cords K, are connected to thehorizontal plane within the vertical plane as most clearly shown inFigs. 2 and 3, said cords passing through l the frame work of thevertical plane through the rudder post before passing through the guidepulleys K; such construction being most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The forward edges of the horizontal plane are braced by means ofsuitable wires H4 which serve to hold the front portion of thehorizontal plane in 'proper position, the rear portions being free, to acertain extent, depending upon atmospheric pressure t'o maintain them intheir proper positions,'and by this it is meant that if the outer rearedges of the horizontal plane should be unduly raised or lowered,atmospheric pressure will very soon return said edges to their normalpositions. The horizontal plane H comprises the front rod H2, and aseries of ribs 115, and a fabric covering H, both the upper and lowersurfaces being covered.

The rudder frame is connected to the planes of the aeroplane in such amanner that if the lower end of said frame should Contact with theground either in starting or in landing, the rudder frame can have alimited upward movement without transmitl ting any strain or pressure ortwist to the planes of the machine thereby avoiding damage which mightoccur if the bars of the rudder frame were rigidly attached to theplanes of the machine. I

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be seen that I provide a novel ferm ofrudder, simple, and durable in construction' and highly eilicient inoperation, as it is only necessary to operate the foot lever E, to steerthe machine by moving the rudder as a whole from`side to side, and owingto the convenient location of the hand lever K2, the horizontal orelevating-plane of the rudder can be quickly and easily moved.- up ordown as the occasionymay reor down can be given to the rudder at thesame time that it receives its impulse from one side or the other.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple, durable and efficientapparatus capable of carrying out of the objects hercinbefore referred tWhat I claim is: l. The combination with a vertical steering planehaving a curved slot, of a hori 2G zontal elevating,r plane, slottedcentrally to receive the vertical plane, means for moving the verticalplane :trom side to side and means for moving the horizontal plane up ordown, a rib of the horizontal plane working in the curved slot of thesteering:r plane.

2. A rudder for aeroplanes comprising a vertical steering plane7consistingr of a rudder post, frame and fabric covering7 and ahorizontal elevating plane, consisting of a Afront rod, ribs and -fabriccovering, said .front rod being pivotally connected to the rudder postof the vertical plane, said horizontal plane being centrally slotted ordivided to receive the vertical plane therebetween, elevating cordsconnected centrally to the horizontal plane, said cords being arrangedwithin the vertical plane, and passing through the rudder post, andcords connected to the front rod of horizontal plane, upon oppositesides of the said post, for the purpose specified.

HARRY A. ORME.

Witnesses:

Citas. E. BROCK, E. B. MCBATH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

